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From Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia Hair conditioner
is a hair care product that alters the texture and appearance of human hair.
For centuries, natural oils have been used
to condition human hair. These natural products are still used today,
including essential oils such as tea tree oil and carrier oils such as
jojoba oil. A conditioner popular with men in the late Victorian era was
Macassar oil, but this product was quite greasy and required pinning a small
cloth, known as an antimacassar, to chairs and sofas to keep the upholstery
from being damaged by the greasy Macassar oil.
Modern hair conditioner was created at the turn of the twentieth century,
when well-known perfumer Ed. Pinaud presented a product he called
brilliantine at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris. His product was
intended to soften men's hair, including beards and mustaches. Since the
invention of Pinaud's early products, modern science has advanced the hair
conditioner industry to include those made with silicone, fatty alcohols,
and quaternary ammonium compounds. These chemical products allow the
benefits of hair conditioner without feeling greasy or heavy.
Hair conditioner is different than cream rinse (often referred to as creme
rinse). A cream rinse is simply a detangler and, as its name implies, has a
thinner consistency than conditioner. Hair conditioner is a thicker
substance which coats the cuticle of the hair itself.
There are several types of hair conditioner
ingredients, differing in composition and functionality:
* Moisturizers, whose role is to hold moisture in the hair. Usually these
contain high proportions of humectants.
* Reconstructors, usually containing hydrolyzed protein. Their role is to
penetrate the hair and strengthen its structure through polymer crosslinking.
* Acidifiers, acidity regulators which maintain the conditioner's pH at
about 2.5–3.5. In contact with acidic environment, the hair's somewhat scaly
surface tightens up, as the hydrogen bonds between the keratin molecules are
strengthened.
* Detanglers, which modify the hair surface by pH as acidifiers, and/or by
coating it with polymers, as glossers.
* Thermal protectors, usually heat-absorbing polymers, shielding the hair
against excessive heat, caused by, e.g., blow-drying or curling irons or hot
rollers.
* Glossers, light-reflecting chemicals which bind to the hair surface.
Usually polymers, usually silicones, e.g., dimethicone or cyclomethicone.
* Oils (EFAs - essential fatty acids), which can help dry/porous hair become
more soft and pliable. The scalp produces a natural oil called sebum. EFAs
are the closest thing to natural sebum (sebum contains EFAs).
* Surfactants - Hair consists of approximately 97% of a protein called
keratin. The surface of keratin contains negatively-charged amino acids.
Hair conditioners therefore usually contain cationic surfactants, which
don't wash out completely, because their hydrophilic ends strongly bind to
keratin. The hydrophobic ends of the surfactant molecules then act as the
new hair surface.
* Lubricants, such as fatty alcohols, panthenol, dimethicone, etc
* Sequestrants, for better function in hard water.
* Antistatic agents
* Preservatives
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